OnePlus One bursts into flames, ruins a pair of jeans

The OnePlus One turned heads in the tech world with its high-end features and mid-range price tag. Now it’s turning heads for a different reason: because one just burst into flames inside a proud owner’s pocket. There’s some real irony here: the conflagration occurred just as the owner was telling a friend how impressed he was with the OnePlus One’s battery life.

The OnePlue One ships with a non-removable lithium polymer battery, and, while they’re an improvement over lithium ion in some ways they’re still susceptible to many of the same issues — overcharging, crushing, short circuits, etc. Curiously, OnePlus told Android Police that they’ve already dispatched staffers to recover the faulty device so that a proper investigation can be performed. They’re also understandably insistent that their devices undergo rigorous in-house testing and say that nothing like this has ever happened before.

Much to the credit of OnePlus, they’ve promised to replace the phone and reimburse its owner for any medical costs incurred. They’re even going to cover the cost of a new pair of jeans — or at least the cost of repairing his old jeans if you take their press release literally.

That level of customer service is refreshing to see, although it’s surprising to see a company make that kind of commitment without first getting a look at the device. There are probably some asterisks in the accompanying legal documents that cover situations like a faulty third-party charger or USB cable, but you certainly can’t fault a company like OnePlus for not wanting to take the undue… heat.

Don’t let news of yet another smartphone battery going kablooey in someone’s pocket scare you too much. Science has already come up with a battery that won’t explode, and they should be arriving in smartphones any day now. Yep, any day now; just like all those other innovative batteries we’ve read about over the past decade.